Talented Irish Youngster Gets McLaren Shot At Austrian GP

As Formula One fans find themselves heading towards this weekend, they will know that the European stretch of the 2025 F1 calendar will now be beginning as we open with the  Austrian Grand Prix  at the Red Bull Ring. As we head towards the month of July, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri holds a 22 point lead advantage in the Drivers’ Championship over team mate Lando Norris, but Mercedes driver George Russell won last year’s Styrian mountains race after Max Verstappen collided with Norris whilst they contested the lead. Sunday’s race in Spielberg starts rolling at 14.00 British Standard Time. It will be a prime opportunity for those who like a flutter, but given the Austrian market, it is just as likely that some would prefer online gaming such as sites that offer  chinese poker  as a means to while about a bit of time before the flags come down. The race itself will no doubt dominate the headlines, but there are already other stories of note coming out of the GP meet, such as the fact that Alex Dunne will become the first Irish driver to take a participation spot in an F1 weekend for the last 22 years. The 19 year old has been selected by Team McLaren to replace championship challenger Norris for the first practice on Friday in recognition of his continued development as a driver in their Driver Development Programme. The Rodin Motorsport FIA Formula 2 Championship driver has been very impressive in his debut year with them and with two race wins under his belt he already tops the standings. The young talent also serves as a reserve in McLaren’s Formula E set up and he prepared for his first practice session by getting a first drive in an older F1 car back in May at  Zandvoort . It is believed that his preparation continued with a second test drive at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, as his scheduled first F1 weekend neared. It will undoubtedly be a huge moment in the Offaly born teenagers young career so far and he more than appreciated that as he spoke ahead of the event taking place, describing it as an ‘amazing opportunity’ where he was determined to play his part in helping to support the team during the set up phase to the race weekend that lay ahead. Obviously he may have whispered quietly that he hoped to impress again for his own professional future career reasons, but he certainly acknowledged that his session preparation work so far, including the time testing and being behind the wheel of previous cars (as well as on the simulator) had ‘been a fantastic learning experience’ for him. For the history buffs, Dunne will now be the first Irish driver to take part in a Grand Prix weekend since Ralph Firman did so back in 2003. English born Firman raced under an Irish licence for Jordan back in that race calendar, so we have to go back slightly earlier than that for the last Ireland born racer and that was the great former Ferrari and Jaguar talent from Northern Ireland, Eddie Irvine, who raced under a United Kingdom licence from 1993 to 2002. If Dunne goes on to have the kind of overall career that Jordan has had given his long association with the sport he will not have done too badly at all, will he.
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